BROOKINGS – The Brookings Area Quilters Guild held its seventh biennial Bloomin’ Quilt Party on Aug. 5 at the Bennett Barn, owned by Mike and Theresa Bennett of Aurora.
Despite the wet weather forecast, the day turned out to be beautiful. Nearly 250 guests and guild members navigated through the road detours and construction to enjoy the music, food, fellowship and leisure atmosphere at the quilt party.
Approximately 100 quilts and other quilted items were displayed at various locations around the Bennett Barn. The quilts were hung on clotheslines and over railings and fences. Quilts could be found in Theresa’s quilt studio and upstairs in the barn. Many quilts were hung on ropes among the trees and even on the fence surrounding the outdoor comfort station. There were also various aprons displayed from the guild’s Apron Exchange from its 2016 Christmas party.
The Quilt Boutique sold many handmade items from guild members along with gently used patterns, books and magazines. The guests were also able to purchase raffle tickets for either the barn party drawing or for the guild’s spring show in April.
Guests enjoyed a large buffet of assorted desserts, snacks, sandwiches and vegetable and fruit platters along with coffee, lemonade and water. They had the choice of sitting inside the barn to eat or under the lean-to and enjoy the cool breeze and music.
Beginning the musical lineup was the Prairie Highlander Bagpiper, Jerry Cooley, filling the grounds with Scottish tunes. Next, the Plum Crazy band delighted the guests with its upbeat notes and pleasant vocals. Culminating the musical roster was The Nile Group fiddle players with their down-home country tunes.
The day ended with the highly anticipated drawing for five raffle items. The garden flower quilt (made by guild member Ida Slocum and quilted by guild member Sandy Gamradt) was won by Cheryl Gudvangen. The large metal quilt block ornament (donated by guild member Theresa Bennett) was won by Bertha Combs. The cement leaf garden ornament (made and donated by Linda Whitaker) was won by Cynthia Johnson. The 14-inch pot of flowers (donated by Medary Acres and guild member Vikki Schaack) was won by Pearl Ivers. The gift bag with a quilt puzzle and quilt magazine (donated by guild members Theresa Bennett and Sandy McFarland) was won by Lori Munsterman. All raffle prize winners were from Brookings.
The next Brookings Area Quilters Guild event will be the spring quilt show on April 28-29, 2018. “Keeping Warm in South Dakota XI: Surviving the Seasons” will be held at the Swiftel Center in Brookings. The BAQG featured quilters will be Jo Meyer and Ida Slocum. The luncheon speaker will be Gudrun Erla (from Iceland), designer and owner of GE Designs, Chanhassen, Minn. For further information, visit the guild’s website at www.brookingsquiltguild.com.
